According to the funeral customs in Haizhou, the burial and white mourning ceremony are held on the third day after a person passes away, and generally, relatives and friends attend the funeral on the day of the burial. In Adam Bolton's memory, when Dad heard this mocking remark from his uncle, he would always look embarrassed. But at this moment, Dad just smiled faintly: “There’s nothing important going on in the city, and I haven’t been back to the old house for a long time. I took some time off, and I’ll wait until uncle’s seventh day memorial is over before returning to the city…”

Anna Bolton just gave a light snort and turned his face away, while cousin Lucas Bolton looked awkward, wanting to offer a few words of comfort, but under the authority of his father Anna Bolton, he didn’t dare to speak rashly. Uncle Ryan Bolton let out a hearty laugh to ease the tension: “Auntie went to borrow a round table for tomorrow’s meal from Zhao Hanming’s house. She didn’t know you and Xiao Ke would be back today. You’re both all sweaty—come to my place and enjoy the air conditioning. Stay at my house tonight; it’s just been renovated, and I specially prepared a room, thinking that whenever my brother comes back, he shouldn’t have to sleep in the old house…” But no one responded.

Adam Bolton looked coldly at the replayed scene, as if it were a play. If it were him, when Dad returned to his hometown, he would have already been surrounded by outsiders talking to him. Dad would be standing, and uncle Anna Bolton would never sit and talk; even if Dad didn’t mind, he would still say, “Second brother is a city leader, how could I sit while you stand?” At such times, he wished they didn’t even know each other. Only uncle Ryan Bolton, who grew up with Dad and greatly admired his character and learning, even in another timeline, after Dad lost his position, uncle Ryan Bolton never neglected the relationship between the two families.

Uncle Ryan Bolton’s small building was the second one on the plateau. He graduated from a technical secondary school in his early years and joined the Dongshe County Construction Company. After Dad went to the city, he formed his own team, started driving a Jetta in 1994, and was considered quite successful in Dongshe County.

Adam Bolton and Dad followed uncle Ryan Bolton to the guest room on the second floor. Watching uncle Ryan Bolton personally take the clothes out of the paper bag and put them into the wardrobe, uncle was tidying up the clothes when he turned his head and said to him, “Adam Bolton, Xiao Mei is upstairs watching videos. Go find her and play…”

Adam Bolton smiled, sat down on the bed, and said with a laugh, “Do you and my dad have something to talk about that you need to avoid me?”

“You rascal!” Adam Bolton saw uncle reaching out to tug his ear and quickly dodged. He must still think of him as an immature boy.

“It’s fine, Xiao Ke knows what’s going on…” Dad stood there, calm and collected. “He’s clear about everything that’s happening now.”

“Oh…” Adam Bolton saw that uncle didn’t hide the surprise on his face and heard him say, “We’ve all heard about Mayor Tang’s situation. Generally speaking, once someone is put under investigation, there must be substantial evidence from above. Second brother, do you think there’s any chance for Mayor Tang’s case to turn around?”

“You said it yourself—there may not be a chance.” Dad didn’t say it outright. In matters like this, if you can’t find someone who truly wants to help, the more people who know, the more dangerous it becomes.

“Second brother, Deputy Secretary Lu has had dinner with me a few times, he might still remember me. I don’t think you need to wait until my father’s seventh day memorial is over. How about I accompany you to Deputy Secretary Lu’s house…”

“If Lu Yiguang already sees me as a traitor, the relationship you’ve managed to build with him might be ruined…”

“What relationship? I’m not in officialdom anyway, so sometimes I can be a bit more flexible… If you agree, we can go today, and I’ll help you prepare the things.”

This was a conversation Adam Bolton didn’t know about. He hadn’t expected uncle to be so enthusiastic, but if Dad was really going to switch allegiances at this point, he wouldn’t have needed to come back home. Of course, in another timeline, the main reason Dad was squeezed out of the city government wasn’t this. Everyone else admitted to giving gifts to Tang Xueqian and was willing to accept organizational criticism and education. Only Dad, when he returned to Haizhou to face the provincial inspection team’s investigation, insisted that his relationship with Tang Xueqian was personal, that he had given gifts to Tang Xueqian and also received gifts from him. In this way, who in the city government could tolerate him? Dad’s character was too unyielding, unwilling to compromise himself. Although he was capable, without a strong backer above, it was very hard to survive in officialdom.

Adam Bolton silently watched Dad’s reaction. For uncle to say such things without any inside information was already very rare.

Chris Bolton was silent for a while, then stepped forward and pressed his hand heavily on his cousin Ryan Bolton’s shoulder, saying, “Zhifei, things aren’t as simple as the rumors say. If you really want to help me, can you put your company’s affairs aside for a few days and help me run some errands…”

“What’s so unusual?” Ryan Bolton was a bit taken aback and asked, “I only have two projects on hand right now. Even if I ignore them for ten days or half a month, it’s fine.”